I recently had the opportunity to check out The Fine Art, an earlier SOV effort from director Eric Stanze (Ice From The Sun, Scrapbook) and some of the current Wicked Pixel / Sub Rosa Extreme crew. Produced in the early 90's, originally as a made for cable/student film, a few cuts would eventually be made for a distribution deal. The version I saw is apparently the longest to date running at about 52 minutes. While it may not be an example of Stanze's best work, it still proves that the man is a filmmaking force and possesses the true raw filmmaking talent that very few actually do (especially in the world of indie filmmaking). One day someone will recognize this and give Stanze the opportunity he truly deserves.

Two wet behind the ear youngin's Bill and Val (also both aspiring artists) are set up on a blind date by mutual friend Julie (big mistake Julie). The two kids spend their time swapping stories (and spit) as the two growing buds start to grow on each other. As a matter of fact, the opening 15-minutes or so of the film plays off kinda like a version of My Girl on steroids. Anywho, the two eventually consummate their blossoming urges with a little spank and tickle. The next morning Julie awakens and takes a stroll around Bill's apt, only to find what she feels to be some ultra disturbing paintings. Young women tied up, bloody and left for dead, needless to say Val hightails it outta there faster than you can say one night stand only to be verbally threatened by Bill for a foul of illegal snooping some time after.

Val consults Julie on the mess that has been made and the two discover that Bill's paintings appear to have a frightening resemblance to some murders that had actually happened around the area. Val's worst nightmare comes true when she discovers that Bill is not only responsible for the murders, but he in fact paints a picture of his intended victim and then commits the crime to match his artistic vision (pretty cool). How can Val set things right? Well without giving too much away, let's just say that it may be a case of fighting fire with fire.

OK, let's get down to business here. I don't know how familiar most of you are with the work of Eric Stanze (you should be quite familiar as we've reviewed more than a few of his flicks on Monsters at Play) and like I said earlier, this guy has filmmaking genes in his pinkie toe. He's really got a way with the camera and is a born storyteller (no matter what the subject matter) and truly makes some of the best looking SOV genre flicks I've ever had the pleasure of viewing. I was extremely apprehensive when I was asked to check out The Fine Art, I had no idea what I was in store for, good or bad. The end result is a competent indie short film that really isn't half bad after all.

All told, the flick probably does work better with a tighter cut, it played off as a higher end episode of Tales From The Darkside (please tell me I'm not the only one who remembers that show!). If you chopped out some of the inconsequential and brought the key scenes in a bit closer together, you'd have a 1/2 hour to 40 minute short that could definitely hang with the best of them.

The story is definitely clever and the star of the show here as is the clever execution. Stanze is able to make one almost forget that he/she is watching an indie flick as his stories seem to flow extremely well and The Fine Art is no exception to the rule. Key points of interest in the flick are Jeremy Wallace (director of the Christmas Season Massacre and the upcoming flick The Undertow) as Bill, and Lisa Morisson (of Savage Harvest) as Valerie. They both pull off their roles quite well and while neither are academy award winning performances, in the world of indie actors, they certainly get the job done. Eric Stanze also makes a brief appearance (with full-on mullet action) and delivers one of the flicks funniest lines. Also of note is the picture perfect ending which was extremely clever in its own right. Word of warning, you will see Jeremy Wallace in his tighty whities! I repeat, you WILL see Jeremy Wallace in his tighty whities! Ahhhhh, the things kids will do for money and fame...

Here's the bottom line. I'm not expecting anyone to run out and track down a copy of The Fine Art based on my review here. However, I am urging all Monsters at Play readers to check out what Wicked Pixel and Sub Rosa Extreme have to offer. Check out our archives for reviews of titles like I Spit on Your Corpse, I Piss on Your Grave, Insaniac, Christmas Season Massacre, Ice From the Sun and Scrapbook. They're all available on special edition DVD and are all definitely worth your time. Check 'em out and then come back here and tell me that I'm wrong. I dare you.

You can learn more by visiting Wicked Pixel Cinema and B-Movie.com.